Debra's Dream
by ThirteenLumen
Summary: Debra's dream takes her far away. It's thirty years in the past, back in 1982. Her and Dexter are nine and twelve years old. It's a beautiful sunny day at the Morgan family home. The siblings have built a tent out of bed sheets in the backyard. Hannah McKay, as a child, pays them a surprise visit. The three children play Monopoly until things take a turn for dark side.


**"Debra's Dream"**

In Debra's dream it's thirty years in the past. It's back in 1982. Her and Dexter are nine and twelve years old. It's a beautiful sunny day. The grass is green. Birds chirp in the trees. Clouds are fluffy in the sky. Nine year old Debra walks out from the Morgan family home into their backyard. She's holding two glasses of lemonade. There's condensation on the glasses. The sun brightens the yellow liquid and sunlight glints off the cubes of ice.

The Morgans have a tree house in the backyard. Next to the treehouse is a white tent. It's pinned up against the tree. It's been strung up with sticks, rope and bed sheets. It's a child's tent. Like a kid would make in their bedroom. But it's been done up in the backyard.

Debra walks over to the tent with the lemonades in her hands. As she approaches the structure shadows from the glasses loom on the tent wall. The sunlight casts prisms of rainbows onto the wavy white sheet. There's an opening in the sheets a few inches wide. This indicates where the "door" to the tent is. Debra uses her elbow to pull the sheet back. She can't use her hands because they're full of lemonade. She also has to lean down to get in. The structure isn't tall enough for her to stand up in.

She looks inside the tent. She sees two kids in there. One of them is Dexter at twelve years old. The other is a blonde girl. She looks about the same age as Dexter. Both kids sit on folding chairs in front of a four-seater fold-up table. They're playing "Monopoly."

Debra comes further into the tent. She rests the lemonade in her hands down on the table.

Dexter gestures to present Debra with an empty seat. He says, "Debra come join us. We're playing a game."

Debra joins them and sits in the empty chair, resting the glasses of lemonade down on the table. She turns to the blonde girl. She says, "Hi I'm Debra. What's your name?"

The blonde girl says, "I'm Hannah. I live next door. I'm new to the neighborhood."

Debra looks confused. She says, "You're Hannah? As a child? But you're thirteen years younger than Dexter. You shouldn't even be born yet."

Hannah laughs and says, "Well I don't know Debra. You tell me. It's your dream. Besides, it's not like we all knew each other as children anyway. I don't remember being your neighbor."

Debra nods and says, "That's true."

Hannah says, "Speaking of ages, I take it from this flashback that you're suppose to be three years younger than Dexter."

Debra says, "Yah, that's right. We've had many memory flashbacks over the years. In all of them we look to be about three years apart in age."

Hannah says, "But what about when you two are adults, in the modern day. In that time period you two look like you're almost ten years apart in age. How do you explain that?"

Debra shrugs and says, "I dunno. Sexiest casting practices."

Hannah nods and says, "You're probably right about that." Hannah brushes her blonde hair over her shoulder and says, "After all I am so very young to be Dexter's love interest." Then she winks at Dexter and says, "And now, in your dream, I'm the neighborhood girl and I'm the same age as Dexter."

Dexter asks, "So Debra... what are saying? You're saying we're casted to parts like actors? I may not think I'm human but I certainly think I'm real."

Debra scoffs and says, "Dexter, gimme a break. Like an implausible character like you could possibly be real." Debra then looks at Hannah and shakes her head. She then says to Dexter, "I don't get it. Since when are you congenial with the neighbors." She gestures to Hannah.

Dexter shrugs and says, "Dad said I should be friendly with other kids. Congeniality is part of the heavy mask I'm forced to wear."

Debra looks at him with skepticism and says, "Okay... But since when do you like girls? Especially at this young age."

Dexter smirks and says, "Actually I foresee a boffetti of hot blondes in my future. And even one raven haired mince."

Debra sneers and says, "So I take it that the last part of that prophecy refers to Lilla. The raven haired mince is the titty british vampire."

Dexter nods and says, "Exactly, the perfect woman."

Debra says, "You 'foresee a boffetti of hot blondes' in your future. Oh please. You're twelve."

Dexter says, "Well one day."

Debra says, "So explain the girly at your left right now."

Dexter says, "Well... I was walking by the neighbor's place. I was looking for a dog to kill of course. And that's when I saw Hannah in her garden. Oh you shouldda seen her Debra. Hannah was surrounded by the most beautiful purple flowers. She had picked a large bouquet of them and was holding them up in her arms. She was handing these flowers out to neighbors. She did this so generously. Whenever a neighbor stepped in her path she would hand them a flower. There was something about her that made me think we had a lot in common."

Hannah says, "That's true. Dexter found me in the garden. He offered to help me tend it. We even planted a budding flower by the trees." She holds Dexter's hand and says, "With the two of us tending the nursery, I wonder how that little flower will turn out." She winks at Dexter again.

Dexter smiles at Hannah and says, "I'm sure our little flower will be fine. I'll tend to the weeds around her."

Debra's attention turns back to the drinks she brought into tent. She says, "I didn't expect to have a guest over. I'll go fetch another lemonde." Debra stands up outta the chair to get a third beverage.

Dexter ushers for her to sit back down. He says, "No, no. Stay seated. Actually I raided the cupboards earlier today for refreshments." He pulls out three bottles and presents them, in a row, on the table. He says, "For your consumption I have three choices. In the first bottle I have a couple of Mom's chemo pills. In the second, I have a half can of Ritalin. And in the third, I have a full thing a Xanax. What's your poison young lady?" He points his hand to each bottle, one, two and then three.

Debra says, "My choices here look grim. The lemonade I brought with me now seems all the more appealing."

Hannah offers, "Debra, if pills aren't your poison, I brought some cake." Hannah reaches behind herself and pulls out a small cake from outta nowhere. The cake has a small sign pinned on top of it. A toothpick pierces the paper and cake. The note looks like a miniature picket sign. The writing on it says, "Eat me." Hannah continues, "Feel free to take a bite. I love to cook. I included some special herbs from my garden." She gives Debra knowing smile.

Dexter presents the board game that's stretched out on the table. He says to Debra, "We've been waiting for you to arrive. We've already selected the game pieces. I tried to assign them according to the roles we play. I'm the car. Since I run the show. Hannah's the top hat. Since she's the Mad Hatter... "

Debra interrupts, "Are sure you're not the Mad Hatter? And if there is a Mad Hatter, what does that make me? Alice in Wonderland?"

Hannah says, "In that case I guess I could be the rabbit. The time barer is at the tea party too."

Dexter says, "No, sorry girls. We're not playing 'Alice in Wonderland.' We're playing 'Monopoly.' And we are assigning the game pieces. So Debra, that makes your piece the thimble."

Debra says, "Why am I the thimble? I'm a tomboy."

Dexter says, "A thimble can mean a lot things. It's protective case. You've been shield in life many ways."

Hannah says, "Debra, girly things have their uses. Needle and thread can bind things together, ribbons can wrap. Here, let me show you." Hannah has a bag beside her. She pulls from it long stretches of ribbon and thread. She throws the cloth and string up into the air. The material leaves her hands and takes flight on it's own. It moves through air as if Hannah magically controls it. Directed by the motion of her hands, Hannah waves the items around through the air.

The material swirls over Debra's head. Debra looks, in wonder, above her. At first she's just mystified by the magic. Then, suddenly, the ribbon and thread descend on Debra, encircling her. While still seated, Debra arms are suddenly bound up by Hannah's magical material. It encircles and grabs Debra's wrists and binds her hands to a folded position under her elbows. The material also binds Debra to the chair she's sitting in. Debra can't move her arms or stand up. She tries to break out of it. But she can't get through the restraints.

Debra thrashes around. She yells at Hannah, "What are you?! Some psychotic witch?! Get this sh** off me!"

Hannah just shrugs and giggles.

Debra's struggles rock the chair she's bound to. The chair's legs pivot on the grass floor. She starts to tip over in the chair. She nearly lands sideways on the grass.

Dexter gets up out of his chair and leans forward. He catches Debra inches before she hits the ground. He sits her back upright. He then goes to sit back in his chair. Once seated, he folds his arms and looks at Debra calmly.

Debra stares at Dexter with her mouth hanging open. She yells, "Dexter, why are you just f***ing sitting there?! Why don't you help me?!"

Dexter shakes his head and says, "It's for your own good. I won't let you hurt yourself again."

Debra says, "Hurt myself? What are you talking about? I won't hurt myself."

Dexter picks up one of the three bottles in front of him. He selects bottle number one, the chemo pills. Two pills still linger at the bottom. He rattles them around in their container. He smiles bitterly at Debra and says, "This bottle was full yesterday. Where did the rest of them go?"

Debra answers, "I don't know. What are you talking about? Missing pills?"

He releases the bottle so that it briefly hovers, midair, in front of him. He then swiftly snatches it from the air. In his tight grasp the bottle shrakes in his hand. The rattling pills inside sound like a maraca. He uncurls his top finger from the bottle to dab in Debra's direction. He asserts, "You swallowed them all. That's where all the pills went to. I'm not losing you the same way I lost Dad. I'm not letting someone else I care about die because of what I am. I don't care what I have to do to prevent that from happening."

Debra gawks at him and says, "But you presented me with the bottles. You asked me to choose. You set me up to fail."

Dexter shakes his head and says, "I wouldn't let you take more pills. I just wanted to see what you would do. What would happen if I handed you the pills? I needed to know." He motions his hands around in a circle, presenting the tent around them. He says, "I set this all up for your benefit." He then points his finger back at Debra. This shakes, again, the pills in his hand. He asserts, "I know what you're planning on doing in here. It won't work."

Debra gawks at him and asks, "What are you talking about? What I'm planning on doing in here? What do you mean? In this tent?"

Dexter shakes his head and says, "This is no tent."

Debra's confused. She asks, "What do you mean this isn't a tent?"

Just then a ferocious gust of wind suddenly rakes through the backyard. It rustles the leaves in the trees. The rough weather howls outside the enclosure in an ominous fashion. The tent jibes wildly, rippling the walls. The white sheets move like waves in the ocean. The undulating material then transform into the padded walls of a rubber room.

Debra looks at her surroundings in horror. She then feels the material that binds her shift around her body. She hears the sound of cloth rubbing together. She feels the string encircling her weaving itself into fabric. She looks down at her restraints. The ribbons and thread transform into a straight jacket. She looks up at Dexter and gawks at him. She says, "What the f***."

Dexter shakes his head at Debra with a worried expression.

Psychotically, Hannah laughs, "Hahha, hahha." She grabs the bottom of her seat and teeters her body side to side, dancing in her chair.

The dream ends.

**If you enjoyed the story I'd love to hear a review from you. Of course it's always great to hear back from readers. But also I found that getting feed back can be helpful in both in terms of how I write, and how I present, my stories. **

**"Debra's Dream" is actually an excerpt from a much longer story called, "The Morgan Family Cabin." This longer story is about 75,000 words long and has fifteen chapters. This particular excerpt is from chapter nine, "When Dreams Come True." I pulled five other excerpts from the long story and titled them as shorter stories. The titles of the other shorter stories are: "Dexter Moiser meets Debra Morgan"(1k+), "Dexter Moiser VS. Debra Morgan"(2k+), "Don't Jump the Fence"(1/2k),******** "Quality Family Time"(4k+), and "Debra's Rapist Gets the Ax"(5k+). **I figured a lot of excerpts worked well as stand alone stories. Also while I breezing through other authors's fan fiction, I found smaller snippets of stories give you a better idea if you'd enjoy a larger story along the same lines.

**I got into fan fiction just so I could write the story, "Debra's Rapist Gets the Ax." While watching TV show Dexter I came to believe that there was a hidden-back story in the show. And that this story was going to be revealed late into the last season. I visioned that this story might go something like this: As kids Dexter kills Debra's rapist with an ax. And somehow one or both kids are made to forget this event. **

**All the other stories I wrote expanded from this original idea of mine. **


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